Primary Pulmonary Synovial Sarcoma: Is it Worth All the Hard Work?

Abstract

Synovial sarcoma (SS) is highly malignant tumor that occurs mainly in adolescents and young adults and is usually seen in the extremities. However, primary SS arising from the lung is extremely rare, accounting for 0.3% to 1.3%. Primary pulmonary SS (PPSS) is an extremely aggressive malignant tumor that can invade adjacent organs or give distant metastases. Besides clinical evaluation and imaging methods for definitive diagnosis, immunohistochemical examination is must. We report a case of elderly male with left lung mass lesion invading into the pericardium and left-sided pleural effusion with a history of smoking. Positron emission tomography (PET)–computerised tomography (CT)-guided trucut biopsy from lung mass lesion led to the diagnosis, and thoracoscopic pleural biopsy showed the pleural involvement with final diagnosis of PPSS (monophasic type). There are no guidelines for optimal treatment due to the rarity of such tumors. Current treatment includes resectional surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. But because of advanced age and poor performance status, our patient was not candidate for any treatment but palliation.

Keywords

• Cytogenetic testing
• immunohistochemistry
• pleurodesis
• spindle-cell tumor
• synovial sarcoma